Orange legislature offers revised map as deadline nears

Thursday

Mar 21, 2013 at 2:00 AMMar 21, 2013 at 11:38 AM

How might Orange County's 21 legislative districts look if drawn strictly to comply with the law and neutral redistricting principles, with no thought of helping incumbents or keeping a Republican majority?

A SUNY New Paltz research center has come up with one possibility, drafting what it calls an “impartial” Legislature map to fuel discussion as county lawmakers scramble to adopt new district lines in time for elections this year for all 21 seats.The model offered by SUNY's Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach differs in several significant ways from the Republican-drawn redistricting proposal lawmakers are now considering.

One is that it was devised without any political considerations, such as the addresses of current lawmakers and potential challengers, or the numbers of enrolled Republicans and Democrats in each district. Existing district lines, in place since 2005, were ignored.

Another is that it tried to form compact districts in which municipalities and unincorporated hamlets are kept intact, avoiding the contortions that result when politicians draw legislative lines with partisan goals.

CHRIS MCKENNA

How might Orange County's 21 legislative districts look if drawn strictly to comply with the law and neutral redistricting principles, with no thought of helping incumbents or keeping a Republican majority?

A SUNY New Paltz research center has come up with one possibility, drafting what it calls an “impartial” Legislature map to fuel discussion as county lawmakers scramble to adopt new district lines in time for elections this year for all 21 seats.The model offered by SUNY's Center for Research, Regional Education and Outreach differs in several significant ways from the Republican-drawn redistricting proposal lawmakers are now considering.

One is that it was devised without any political considerations, such as the addresses of current lawmakers and potential challengers, or the numbers of enrolled Republicans and Democrats in each district. Existing district lines, in place since 2005, were ignored.

Another is that it tried to form compact districts in which municipalities and unincorporated hamlets are kept intact, avoiding the contortions that result when politicians draw legislative lines with partisan goals.

Joshua Simons, a CRREO research associate who specializes in redistricting, says he drafted the proposal in two days last week, using census data and mapping software. He and Gerald Benjamin, CRREO's director, had spoken at a public hearing on March 11 to critique the proposed map Republicans released only three weeks ago.

In the meantime, the county has revised that proposal to address what lawmakers saw as the most pressing concern that Benjamin, Simons and other speakers raised: the risk of getting sued for failing to create districts in which minority groups held a majority.

Posted on the county website Wednesday afternoon, one day before a scheduled discussion of the maps, was an alternative plan making adjustments in the Middletown and Newburgh areas. Most notably, the revisions included a proposed district entirely in the City of Newburgh with a 59 percent Hispanic population.

The changes were made to ensure compliance with the 1965 federal Voting Rights Act. The Legislature's Rules, Enactments and Intergovernmental Relations Committee, which endorsed the original proposal last month, is scheduled to meet at 5 p.m. Thursday to discuss the new version.

The initial plan, drawn by Legislature Chairman Michael Pillmeier and fellow Republican Legislator Katie Bonelli, was made public Feb. 27, leaving little time for debate.

Lawmakers now must either adopt some form of that proposal or reject it and start over, perhaps following CRREO's guidelines.

The drawback to starting from scratch is that lawmakers probably would be forced to run in their current districts this year, but then face another round of elections with new lines next year.

The Legislature's Democratic minority leader, Jeff Berkman, whose caucus could have fared worse under the Republican plan, expressed misgivings about CRREO's “impartial” map, mainly its handling of his home city. He noted that both Middletown districts in that proposal included parts of the Town of Wallkill, leaving the possibility that Wallkill residents could represent both.“It's like you exchange one priority for another,” he said.